Japanese Whisky: A Unique Style

07-07-2017

By Whizzky Staff Writer

Until recently, few people outside of Japan knew about the
existence of Japanese whisky. Brands such as Nikka, Yamazaki, Hibiki are now
frequent in whisky speak, even with celebrities. American superstar Beyoncé (2016) makes mention of Yamazaki in her song titled 6 Inch with the lyrics “...her
Yamazaki straight from Tokyo”, signalling the popularity that Japanese whisky
enjoys.

The land of the rising sun and cherry blossoms has enjoyed
several international whisky awards including the Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013 being named
the World Whisky of the Year by Jim Murray in 2015. The Hibiki
21 Year Old has also taken the award for Best Blended Whisky, 5 years in a row at the World Whisky
Awards.

A Brief History

Japanese whisky owes its global popularity to 2 Japanese
whisky pioneers Masataka Taketsuru and Shinjiro Torii who founded the most recognized
Japanese whisky brands: Suntory and Nikka.

(Source: Goin' Japaneseque. Image by Unknown)

Taketsuru studied organic chemistry in Glasglow and worked
at a few Scottish distilleries including Longmorn in Campbelltown. He returned
to Japan in 1920 with knowledge of whisky making and his Scottish wife Jessie
Roberta (Rita) Taketsuru. Torii was a
pharmaceutical wholesaler who created a successful port wine called Akadama. He
had an appreciation for whisky and wanted to create a whisky for Japanese tastes.
The 2 men joined forces to create Japan’s first ever whisky called Suntory
Shirofuda in 1929 from the Yamazaki distillery.

Since then, Japanese distilleries litter the small country, including
Nikka distillery, Chichibu distillery,
Mars Shinshu and Hakushu distillery that produces the award winning Hibiki
whisky.

Japanese whisky website Dekanta believes the reason behind the success of Japanese whisky is due to a national motto that the Japanese adopted called Wakon Yosai.

" When modernity came to Japan, the Japanese adopted a strategy to deal with it: Wakon Yosai, or in English “Western technology, Japanese spirit.” It meant that Japan could use the best techniques available in the world and hopefully improve on them while making them fit for Japanese circumstances."

The Japanese in their contact with the western world adopted this principle even with whisky production. Their whisky production uses the highest Scottish standards to suit the delicate Japanese palette.